1248 Management LLC Buys Shares of 585 Fastenal Company $FAST

1248 Management LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its stake in Fastenal by 0.3% in the first quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 49,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,817,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC grew its stake in Fastenal by 0.4% in the first quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC now owns 32,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,559,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in Fastenal by 0.9% in the first quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 15,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,142,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Fastenal by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $698,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Fastenal by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 8,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $688,000 after buying an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 price target on Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Baird R W upgraded Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Wolfe Research reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price target on Fastenal and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Fastenal from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $47.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.82.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other news, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total value of $1,662,414.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 48,724 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.05, for a total value of $2,341,188.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 11,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,834. This trade represents a 80.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 111,230 shares of company stock valued at $5,288,364. 0.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST opened at $47.45 on Friday. Fastenal Company has a 52-week low of $34.67 and a 52-week high of $50.63. The stock has a market cap of $54.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.63, a PEG ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $47.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.54.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.33% and a net margin of 15.30%.The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.07 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Fastenal Company will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 29th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.62%.

Fastenal Profile

Fastenal Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the wholesale distribution of industrial and construction supplies in the United States, Canada, Mexico, North America, and internationally. It offers fasteners, and related industrial and construction supplies under the Fastenal name. The company’s fastener products include threaded fasteners, bolts, nuts, screws, studs, and related washers that are used in manufactured products and construction projects, as well as in the maintenance and repair of machines.